


Refuge

by simplesetgo



Category: Legend of the Seeker
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-28
Updated: 2010-09-28
Packaged: 2017-10-18 12:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/189051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplesetgo/pseuds/simplesetgo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse into a future where Cara and Kahlan find some unexpected help while on the run together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Refuge

**Author's Note:**

> The ch sound in the expression "och" is hard, not soft.

She sat waiting on her porch, rocking idly in her favorite chair as the clear evening sky started to give way to dark clouds. They rolled in slowly from the mountains to the east, like they had done every night for several days. There had been a change in the wind over the past month; it was if the world itself were aware of the events taking place on the other side of the peaks.

When the pair finally arrived, they remained in the woods for a time, almost out of sight. They clearly thought they were undetected; she watched, amused, as the tall one with dark hair pointed at her secluded home repeatedly. The shorter blonde just shook her head over and over, and were it not for the bundle occupying her arms she doubtlessly would have them crossed against her chest.

But her eyesight was keen for her age, and she watched with a faint smile on her lips as the taller woman won the argument. They began their approach through the trees, and as they drew closer she got a good look at them. They both had the look of people who had been on the road far too long—skin grimy with the dirt of travel and unassuming clothes dusty and torn in places.

There was a weight on both their shoulders, and their steps were slow and deliberate. Yet underneath the disguise forced on them by the world, the brunette possessed every bit of the noble strength she remembered, and the blonde appeared every bit the woman she expected.

So she rocked back and forth, content to wait until they were close enough to hear her speak. When they stopped mere paces from her porch, the dark-haired woman opened her mouth to speak and she promptly cut her off. “Och, the woods and wild are no place for a child that young,” she chided them. “Especially when the nights are this cold and there’s a rain comin’ in.”

She watched with interest as the blonde glared at her and held the bundle closer to her chest. “We haven’t had a choice,” the shorter woman snapped.

“Ah, but ye have one tonight,” she replied airily. “We can only hope ye make the right one.”

“We can’t offer payment,” the taller woman said hesitantly. “But we would greatly appreciate it if we could share your roof.”

“Och!” she cried, quickly rising to her feet. “We’ll do better than a roof. It’s been many a summer since we cooked for anyone but ourselves, and we do believe there’s an extra bed in here somewhere or t’ other. As for payment, we’ll have none of it.” She canted her head in a show of thought. “Unless ye have news of lands far from this one,” she offered.

The dark-haired woman smiled her thanks, and her companion averted her glance before offering a curt nod of her head.

****

Rain was falling outside as night fell, but the only reminder inside the cozy house was the faint patter on her windows and roof. She quickly started a fire in the fireplace and busied herself in her kitchen preparing her best spice soup.

It became obvious from occasional glances at her visitors that they were utterly exhausted. They stood side by side behind her; the blonde had surrendered the swaddled child to the brunette, and the tall woman held the bundle close and began rocking gently on her feet. The circles under both their eyes told her that not only had they been on the road for long hours every day, but their errand was urgent enough to forego sleep more often than not.

She finally ventured a query when she felt the silence behind her had served its purpose. “So then,” she called. “Who might it be we’re about to shelter and feed?”

She heard the brunette’s voice answer quickly. “My name is Sarah, and this is—”

“Och!” she cried sharply, turning to see a baffled expression on them both. “We can’t afford shelterin’ liars. We tried it once, and it didn’t turn out so well for old Ariah,” she explained, gesturing vaguely at herself.

The brunette swallowed and looked down distractedly to the tiny child in her arms. The blonde visibly tensed, and Ariah watched with keen interest as her hand strayed casually to her side. There was something hidden there beneath her drab and dirty leather pants and shirt, and something else hidden deeper still. It lurked under her skin, in her muscle and bone, and Ariah knew that if she made a wrong move her life could be forfeit. The blonde was one of the very few people capable of harming her. And another stood beside her, she realized with amusement.

“Why don’t ye tell us her name first,” Ariah ventured carefully with a nod at the sleeping child. “And then we’ll see if ye can be trusted to tell your own.”

“How did you know she was a girl?” the blonde asked icily. She made no attempt to conceal the suspicion in her voice. Ariah appreciated it—there was something to be said for straightforwardness.

But being straightforward with the testy woman in front of her might make things a little too interesting a little too quickly. “Are we wrong?” she deflected.

“No,” the brunette said softly, her gaze still on her child. And it was definitely hers—it was written in the way she looked down at her daughter, and very much in the way she said her name. “Her name is Sonia.”

Ariah nodded slowly. “A beautiful name for a beautiful child, to be sure.”

She looked up and smiled. “I am Kahlan, and this is Cara.” Kahlan gestured to the blonde at her side, who just set her jaw and stared at Ariah.

Ariah raised her brow pointedly. “And what might the Mother Confessor of the Midlands be doin’ at the border of Westland?” she pondered with a tap to her chin.

Then Kahlan looked at her—really looked at her—and took a step forward. “Can we trust you?”

It was not a question delivered for her mind to process and think on, and Ariah was well aware from way the Confessor’s gaze pierced her own that she would know in an instant if she was lying. But that worked very much to her advantage at the moment, and she nodded slowly. “We have no reason or intention to cause ye harm,” she promised. Far from it, she added in thought.

Kahlan stepped back again, satisfied, and Ariah watched as Cara relaxed somewhat. “So now,” Ariah said busily, stepping forward to the table in her small kitchen. “Ye can keep your end of the bargain while our soup cooks, eh?” She gestured at the two chairs opposite her own and took a seat pointedly.

The pair moved to join her, Cara slowly and Kahlan tiredly. Kahlan nestled Sonia against her shoulder as they sat, pressing a kiss and a whisper to her head. Ariah sat back easily, placing her hands before her on the table, and directed her gaze to Cara. “And who might ye be such that the Mother Confessor trusts ye with her child?” she wondered.

“Her bodyguard,” Cara answered flatly.

“My mate,” Kahlan corrected her. “Cara is my mate.” Cara shot her a furious glare and crossed her arms, and Kahlan shrugged. “She doesn’t shelter liars, Cara.”

Ariah grinned. “Right you are!” she crowed. “But she doesn’t address ye as such,” she observed cautiously. “And she hasn’t the manner of a woman confessed.”

Kahlan threw the blonde a soft smile. “Cara is not confessed. I can’t confess her because she loves me already of her own will,” she explained. Cara’s face softened and something approaching a blush rose to her cheeks.

“Och! Wonderful!” Ariah cried, clapping her hands together. “But the child—it cannot be her own,” she put forth cautiously.

Kahlan pursed her lips. “Sonia is very much myself and Cara’s daughter,” she answered at length. “I gave birth to her, but there is no way she is anyone but Cara’s. And no one knows how—that’s when this whole thing began.”

Ariah leaned forward to show her interest, and Kahlan shifted Sonia on her shoulder and sighed. Cara took one glance at her and uncrossed her arms to slip one under the table, and Kahlan lowered her own to join it.

“Aydindril has fallen to sedition,” Kahlan told her sadly. “Had we not left when we did, we might have been thrown into the dungeons ourselves, and there’s no way to know what they might have done with Sonia. We had to leave. To keep her safe.”

“They accused us of using subtractive magic,” Cara muttered darkly. “A deal with the Keeper. It’s ridiculous—as if subtractive magic could create life.”

Kahlan nodded. “The Council used Sonia’s birth as a weapon.” Ariah watched as pain flashed over her blue eyes and anger took up residence in Cara’s. “They had been watching and waiting,” Kahlan continued, “and they seized power when I was still recovering.”

Ariah narrowed her eyes. “To run the Mother Confessor out of her own city—surely such a thing be impossible,” she ventured.

Kahlan smiled sadly. “It would have been, before the war. But there are only two of us left, and Confessors or not—”

“Three,” Cara interrupted suddenly. “There are three of you now.” She almost appeared proud.

“Right she is!” Ariah crowed once again. “Though we worry for her future if only one of her mothers can count,” she added with a grin.

Kahlan blushed. Cara turned to give her an amused smirk, and Ariah noted with satisfaction that the blonde hadn’t bristled or snapped at the lighthearted jest toward her mate.

Sonia’s sudden cry filled the room; it was as if she had heard them talking about her. Kahlan threw a glance to Cara and shifted Sonia in her arms. “She’s hungry,” Kahlan whispered to her mate. Cara nodded and moved her hand to the back of Kahlan’s chair as Kahlan rose.

“Ye might find that extra bedroom on your left,” Ariah called as Kahlan moved behind her.

Then Ariah was alone with the blonde, and they stared at each other for far longer than any normal woman would have been comfortable with. Cara finally blinked and immediately looked crestfallen.

Ariah gave her an exceptionally toothy grin. “Soup?”

****

Kahlan returned after Cara had gone through two bowls, and Sonia was not in her arms. “Ariah?” she asked hesitantly. “The crib in that room had blankets in it. I hope you don’t mind; I wanted to let Sonia sleep.”

“Och, not at all. We’d forgotten about that old thing,” she said with a lazy wave of her hand.

“Kahlan,” Cara spoke around a spoonful. “This spice soup is amazing.”

Kahlan smiled as Ariah rushed up to serve her a bowl. “It seems forever since we had a cooked meal,” she confessed.

“And a warm bath?” Ariah inquired with a crooked smile.

“Longer,” Kahlan replied with a wince.

“Och! We’ll see what we can do for ye, then.” She passed Kahlan the full bowl, wiped her hands on her sides, and set off to find the washbasin. She heard her guests whispering to each other as she searched her small home, but refrained from attempting to decipher words not meant for her.

She had just begun to suspect it had sprouted legs and walked away when she found it, right where she had left. Ariah grabbed it with a mutter about old age and memory, and when she moved back into the main room the sight she saw warmed her heart.

The couple had moved from the kitchen to the oversized chair in front of the fire and had barely managed to squeeze into it together. A lazy smile on Cara’s face matched the content one on Kahlan’s, and their hands were wrapped together and resting between them. Kahlan saw her approaching and raised her head. “Ariah,” she called. “Can you settle something for us?”

“Och,” she muttered to herself. “We be gettin’ into trouble here, to be sure.” She sighed and moved in front of them after leaving the washbasin propped against the wall. “What’s our problem, now?”

“She thinks she doesn’t need to tell me that she loves me anymore,” Kahlan explained. “Because I already know.” She flashed a glance at Cara. “She used to tell me all the time, though.”

Cara pursed her lips. “That’s my point. I’ve told her enough,” she defended. “What use is one more time?”

“Och, there’s a tough one,” Ariah mused. “Tell us this, Confessor. When ye sat in that chair, did ye reach for her hand or did she reach for your own?”

Kahlan’s glance darted at their joined hands. “I think she did.”

“Well then,” Ariah said satisfactorily. “I suppose she told ye just then, did she not?”

Kahlan grimaced. “But that’s not…”

“If we may be so bold,” Ariah interjected gently. “We’ve noticed your mate be a woman of few words, choosin’ to speak through actions and tell intent through touch. Ye haven’t heard her tellin’ ye because ye haven’t been usin’ the right ears,” she chuckled.

Kahlan’s eyes darted to the side as she gave Ariah’s words thought. A supremely satisfied smile worked its way onto Cara’s face, and Ariah couldn’t help taking her down a few notches as well. “Yet… there be no true substitute for hearing the truth of the words spoken aloud from time t’ time,” she added.

Cara visibly deflated and Kahlan flashed her a smirk. Cara sighed in resignation before moving her mouth to Kahlan’s ear, just long enough to whisper three words, and the sudden soft smile on Kahlan’s face let Ariah know exactly what they were.

****

The pair emerged from the washroom together, hair wet and skin scrubbed clean, and Ariah made no attempt to hide an amused smile at the way the Mother Confessor glowed. She appeared utterly sated, and the look of equal satisfaction on Cara’s face was in sharp contrast to the look she had given Ariah before the door closed between them.

It had said, very clearly, that if any harm came to Sonia while Cara was tending to her mate, she would hunt her to the ends of the world. Ariah had simply nodded in understanding and reassurance.

“We’ve prepared the bed for ye two,” she offered. Kahlan nodded sleepily and immediately set off toward it, but Cara lingered.

“How close is the nearest road?” she finally asked. “And does it get travel this time of night?”

Ariah narrowed her eyes. “We know what ye be plannin’ to do,” she told her softly. “Ye will spend all night standin’ by the window, watchin’ over them.”

Cara didn’t reply. She just looked at her and waited for an answer to her question.

Ariah sighed. “The nearest main road be two leagues to the south, and it barely sees travel t’all. But we would tell ye this—if ye trusted us enough to leave us alone with your child, trust us when we say that ye will be safe here tonight. All three of ye.”

Cara nodded, and the look in her eyes said she would consider it.

****

The sun had barely risen when Ariah opened the door and bustled into the room. She was pleased to see Cara had taken her at her word and was fast asleep in the bed with an arm around Kahlan’s side. Sonia was out of the crib and curled against Kahlan’s chest, and it occurred to Ariah that they had grown used to sleeping this way on the road—nestled tightly together for both warmth and comfort.

It wasn’t until she placed the tray of toasted and buttered bread on the table beside her that Cara’s eyes flew open and she shot upright. Ariah watched in keen interest as she assessed the situation and potential threat her own frail frame presented, all in the space of a heartbeat. Then recognition flooded her, her muscles relaxed, and she fell back. “We’re sorry we startled ye, dear,” Ariah chuckled.

Cara just grunted before reaching a hand to Kahlan’s shoulder and lowering her head to her ear. Ariah watched as the brunette’s eyes fluttered open to dart around the room. She didn’t move a muscle at first; there was no need to panic when your deadly protector woke you with a soft touch and softer words. When she did move, it was to place an arm absently around Sonia.

“We thought ye might like to be on your way,” Ariah volunteered with a nod at the sunlight streaming in the window.

Kahlan nodded, turning onto her back and clearing her throat. “Thank you,” she said. “We’ll be out in a bit.”

****

They stood out on her porch together as the morning mists began to burn away. The pair had gratefully accepted her offer of fresh clothing and a bundle of food for the road, and now Kahlan stood before Ariah and shifted the pack on her back. Sonia was back on Cara’s shoulder, and now it was the blonde swaying gently and whispering occasionally in the sleeping child’s ear.

“Thank you, Ariah,” Kahlan said, almost hesitantly.

Ariah just flashed her a toothy grin and nodded. “’Twas our pleasure, to be sure. Maybe ye can visit us on the way back,” she offered hopefully. “For we can’t think the Mother Confessor would stay away from her lands for any longer than is required.”

Kahlan looked down and then to Cara before meeting her own gaze again. Her voice turned weighted and heavy, and Ariah could tell it was laced with guilt at leaving her people. “I don’t know when we’ll be able to go back,” she admitted. “The way everyone turned against us… Ariah, people that I had known since I was a child, that I trusted with my life, were among those who raised arms. I didn’t understand… I still don’t.” She paused and almost smiled. “You’re the first person we’ve met since that didn’t make us feel as if the entire world was against us,” she added.

“Magic,” Cara muttered darkly. “I’m sure of it. Something is happening to people in the Midlands. Something is poisoning their minds against Kahlan.”

Ariah nodded. She knew as much, but hearing it confirmed again sent a fresh chill down her already aching spine. “Well,” she said softly. “Westland be a safe place for ye until ye can figure out things.” She almost added that she would make sure of it, but it would better if they didn’t know her intentions. The blonde’s distrust of all things magical was at its peak.

Kahlan gave a small smile and stepped back to nudge Cara in the ribs. The shorter woman shot her a glare but dutifully cleared her throat. “I am grateful,” she forced out. “For your hospitality.”

Ariah smiled gleefully. Receiving the spoken thanks of a Mord-Sith was worth her efforts if nothing else. “And ye be quite welcome,” she assured her.

She watched them depart, and let herself smile at the way the burden on their shoulders had lessened slightly. They walked into the woods, out of sight, and she took a deep breath. “But ye will be needin’ more than shelter from Adie before the end,” she murmured to herself.

With that she walked back inside her home and flung her arms out to her sides. She called on her Gift, and the walls began to shudder and shake. She grimaced against the horrible racket as her home rearranged itself, as things popped in and out of both hiding and existence, and as her sight grew dark.

When she was once more Adie the Bone Lady, surrounded by the familiar adornments of sharp white bones formerly belonging to various creatures both magical and mundane, she looked around her comfortable home with a sigh. She always enjoyed a respite from using her Gift as a means of sight.

Maybe when she saw the pair next, she could don a younger disguise, she chuckled. And there would be a next time—she had seen it. The Midlands—nay, all of the New World—was headed for an incredibly dark time, and the child that had just passed through her home was the key to bringing back the light.

So Adie would watch over them from afar, and she would help when help was needed. She didn’t believe in meddling; the Witch of Agaden Reach had that well-handled. Adie believed in helping those who needed and deserved it. Although, she mused, with such a fierce protector in her mate, perhaps the Mother Confessor didn’t need her quite as badly as she’d thought.

A/N: In the show, Adie is more or less a reclusive trader and medicine woman, while in the books she's depicted as... significantly more. Maybe she's even capable of some pretty ~powerful magic~. I thought it would be interesting to explore the latter a little. Hopefully the dialect/accent didn't make things difficult! It was too much fun to put aside.


End file.
